


mermaid au

by Demigoat



Category: Mission: Impossible (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Merpeople, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-02
Updated: 2019-02-02
Packaged: 2019-10-21 06:40:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17637713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Demigoat/pseuds/Demigoat
Summary: it's a mermaid au. Benji works at an aquarium.





	1. A new fish in the pond

**Author's Note:**

> first fic I've ever finished, how 'bout that

All was quiet at the Aquarium. The clock was about to hit 22:00 and Benji Dunn would finally be free to go home. He fantasized about dinner, while shutting down his computer and the surveillance monitors and activating the automatic alarm system. All on autopilot. Like every night he would have ten minutes to leave the building before the doors locked and he would be trapped. And likely trigger the alarm causing a fuss that would probably get him fired.

The quickest route out of the building was through the maintenance and service section that his station was located in, but he liked to go through the visitor’s area instead to admire the many fish and sea creatures he’d otherwise not get to see up close. He could keep an eye on most of the exhibitions via the monitors in the surveillance room, but the images didn't compare to the real deal. 

He walked by all his favorites on the way out, like the octopus named Wally and the rare collection of deep sea eels.

But the most interesting point on his route was undoubtedly the mermaid aquarium. Or merman actually. They’d had a female for years, who died recently, and they somehow acquired a new (male) one on very short notice. Merpeople, who were not actually considered people, were extremely rare and hard to get, but it was the main attraction, so it must have been top priority. 

Benji stopped in front of the large glass window. The merman was nowhere to be seen. It wasn't surprising, given that he had been active for the visitors all day. Five minutes until the alarms started. Four. Still nothing. 

“I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then,” Benji said and headed for the door. He didn't notice the figure appearing on the other side of the glass.

***

At home in his tiny two room apartment Benji threw his bag at the couch and put the take-away, he’d bought on the way home, on the table. He loosened his tie and removed his uniform shirt.

“No need to wear clothes in your own home, am I right Shaun?” He said to the Roomba innocently looking for dust on the livingroom floor. 

He ditched the dinner table in favor of eating his take-away at his desk. It was no fun eating alone surrounded by two empty chairs anyway. He quickly immersed himself in his favorite hobby: Video games. He was about halfway through the first Witcher game.

***

Tuesday at 07:00 am the sun rose above the city skyline and Benji remembered he had a real job and it was no longer weekend. 

“Shit! I have to be up in five hours, why didn’t you say something Shaun?” He scrambled to turn off the computer, while pointing accusingly at the roomba. “And here I am trying to live healthily.”

The hours of monitor light and the two cans of Monster did nothing to help Benji fall asleep, but he did manage to catch a few.

Tuesday at 12:17 pm Benji dragged himself out of bed and had toast with cheese for breakfast. At 14:02 he arrived at his desk in the aquarium’s surveillance room for another long and boring day.

“God, why does nothing ever happen here?” He asked with a deep sigh knowing perfectly well nobody was around to answer.

It was at this moment he noticed something unusual on one of the monitors. It was the camera overlooking the back and of the mermaid aquarium where staff would do maintenance, medical tests and non-visitor feeding. The elusive merman was halfway out of the water and looking at something off camera. No one was supposed to be in that area at this time of the day.

“Who are you looking at?”

A hand appeared at the edge of the screen and dropped something into the water. The merman immediately dived to retrieve it and didn’t resurface. 

“Now isn't that’s strange.” Benji knew it wasn’t his place to question staff behavior, when it came to merpeople - they tended to have special needs - and he quickly cast it aside. After all the previous one had regularly been given small mechanic objects to disassemble. But it did give him something to think about for the rest of the afternoon. 

Later Benji went through the usual end of the day routine. Through the monitor he noticed that someone had forgotten to turn off the lights in the merman’s aquarium, the poor guy. Benji didn't have authorization to do it himself, so he could only watch and feel bad for the creature.

He walked by the aquarium on his way out fully expecting to be able to see the merman this time. Again it was nowhere to be seen. But this time it caused Benji to panic, because he _could_ see the rest of the illuminated aquarium - there was nowhere for anything to hide. 

“Fuck.” He’d just seen it on camera. Where was it? He looked at his watch: Eight minutes. He’d hurried this time. He decided to go to the maintenance area to check if the merman had somehow escaped like Wally the octopus sometimes did. A merman escape would be an absolute disaster and he should probably alert someone, but he wanted to be sure to avoid getting in trouble for bothering his boss.

The service area behind the aquarium was full of water. 

“Bloody hell!” He looked up and the fence designed to keep intelligent animals in containment had clearly been cut. Benji dug out his phone from his pocket to call security, but before he could find the number in his contacts he felt a wet hand on his shoulder and another one covering his mouth. The phone fell to the ground with an uncomfortably loud _clank_. His eyes widened in fear. He screamed, but the noise was muffled by the hand on his face. The weight of the person hanging on his back quickly dragged him to the ground. He writhed to free himself, but the person holding him was clearly much stronger than him. He looked around for any means to escape, but saw a large wet tail instead. _Oh no_. The tail locked his legs securely against the floor.

“Promise to be quiet and I’ll let you go,” an unfamiliar voice with a strange accent said. Benji nodded. _It can talk?!_ Slowly the hands and the tail loosened and let him go. He quickly scrambled to get as far away from the creature as possible. 

Benji’s watch said 22:14, meaning the alarms had been activated. He was at a loss for what to do. If he was here the next day and the merman was not, he would be fired. If he tried to call security the merman might kill him (or worse). If he deliberately tripped the alarm the merman would probably also try to kill him or try to escape (or both) and if it did he would probably get fired. 

“It’s too late to get out without starting the alarms, isn’t it?” the merman asked.

“Y-yeah,” Benji said and tried to calm down, “so won’t you please go back in your aquarium?”

The merman went still for a while, arms crossed. “Fine. But what are you gonna do? Sleep on the floor? As far as I know it’s not possible to leave without triggering the alarm.”

“How do you even know that?” In his peril Benji had forgotten to think about how _he_ was gonna spend the night now. 

He ended up sitting by the merman’s aquarium and pulling an allnighter. 

The merman emerged from the water and rested his arms on the edge of the aquarium where the fence had been cut off.

“So how’re you doing?”

“Terrifically,” Benji muttered without looking up. 

“Look. I’m sorry about ruining your night. But please don’t tell anyone about it.”

“Not like anyone would believe me if I did.” Benji said, exasperated, “I mean what am I gonna tell them? ‘Hey, the new merman tried to strangle me during an escape attempt last night?’ Most people think you ‘only’ have whale level intelligence. ‘And then he said sorry to me’. Nobody were gonna believe the first part, so what will they say, when I tell them you can _talk?_ They’re gonna laugh that’s what.” Sometimes Benji wished he could just stop talking, when he wanted to. But he hated this job and he hadn't said more than a sentence and a half to anyone in a long time. 

“Whales _are_ almost as intelligent as me if you know how to communicate with them.”

“Oh, uh.. Sorry. I don’t know much about marine life despite working at an aquarium. I’m just the surveillance guy.”

The merman laughed. “It’s alright. I don’t know much about land life either. What’s your name anyway? I was told all humans have names.”

“Uh.. yeah, it’s Benji.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m - “ the merman made a strange noise, “which is apparently unpronounceable to humans, so I got the human name ‘Ethan’.”

“What were you doing back here anyway? No one's there at this time usually,” Ethan said.

“I, uuh, walked passed your aquarium and couldn't see you, so I got worried. I'd be fired if you disappeared, when I was supposed to keep watch.”

“Ah, well you caught me, so job well done.”

“I guess,” Benji was silent for a moment, “can all merpeople talk?”

“Yes, but not human languages. That's hard and most don't have any reason to.”

“How come you do then?”

“I got a human friend. He caught me sabotaging fishing nets, but for some reason he wasn't angry. He helped me sneak away, when the fishermen arrived to see what was up. He taught me English.”

“He sounds nice,” Benji said and yawned.

“He is. So are you, actually. You two are the only ones, who've treated me like a person.” Ethan smiled. It was a sad smile, Benji had never thought he would feel this bad for a fish.

“Haven’t you tried talking to anyone else?”

“Yes and no,” Ethan said hesitantly, “I can usually tell by intuition if it'll be worth it. Fishermen usually get scared. The people here seem like they'd do… things to me if they found out. They talk about me like I'm an object for study.”

“I think you are. To them.”

“Yeah, I don't like it. I don't usually go to the surface, when there are people around, but when I do and it's not those two types it's fun. They love it, but I… I never felt the deep connection I did with my friend. Perhaps it was the circumstances.”

“Probably.” Benji yawned again. 

“You're tired. Sleep.”

“It's fine. I don't think I _can_ fall asleep here.”

“I can try and help you,” Ethan said with eyes brighter than ever, “I have some siren blood in me from my mother's side.”

Ethan spend the next couple of hours explaining whale culture in a low soothing voice until Benji eventually fell asleep on the floor.

***

Benji awoke early the next morning with a terrible backache and Ethan’s voice in his ear.

“Hey! Benji! Wake up! Somebody’s coming! Benji!” He whispered loudly.

Hearing footsteps as well Benji was up and awake in two seconds looking around wildly. He looked at his reflection on the aquarium glass and tried to make himself look presentable. It didn’t quite work and about to leave the service area he almost bumped into Carl, one of the zoologists. 

“What are you doing back here, Dunn?” he said in his usual condescending tone, “aren’t you a little early?”

“Uh…”

“Did you sleep here?”

Benji face grow hot. He didn’t know what to say as nothing would save him from Carl’s trash talk.

“God, you did! Your incompetence has either set a new record or you’re up to something.” Before Benji could reply Carl was hit in the face by a slimy wet stone.

“Ow fuck! Where did _that_ come from?!” Carl yelled and looked around in bewilderment. As did Benji, who was equally surprised. He quickly spotted Ethan’s face grinning from the top edge of his aquarium. 

Carl had noticed and looked in the same direction. “God damn creature!” He yelled and noticed the mangled fence. “What in God's name?! Did you do this?” He asked, pointing at Benji and poking his chest. 

“No! It was there when I was going home and I went to look and I... I got stuck here because of the alarms,” Benji said with his arms raised in defence. 

“Look through the surveillance footage please,” Carl sighed, exasperated. 

“Sure, right away.” 

Benji hurried back to the surveillance room and started looking through the footage from the day before. Nothing out of the ordinary had happened until 21:32. The video showed Ethan's head emerging from the water to look around. A few seconds later his arms followed holding something the low resolution didn’t show in detail. He used it to cut the fence. The tool was slow and it seemed difficult for him to stay above the water. He used one arm to hold himself up by the fence and one to cut. It took him almost 25 minutes with a five minute break. When he was done he heaved himself up and crawled over the remaining fence and disappeared out of the frame. Benji changed to another video and saw himself enter the picture. Ethan was hiding in the shadows behind a set of large pipes. How did he miss this? He must have been falling asleep at his desk. Then came the part, where he was assaulted and looking at it now he was impressed by Ethan’s ability to move quietly despite being wet and having no legs. 

“This is a bad idea,” he said as he deleted the footage. 

“So, did you find anything?” Carl said and Benji almost fell out of his chair. 

“No,” he said hastily.

“That ain’t right. Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

To Benji’s unbelievable fortune Carl didn’t pursue further and left. He had no idea what to do if he’d asked to see the footage for himself. Just in case he decided to restore the part where Ethan had cut the fence, but left the rest in the computer void. He never found out if it was the case, because he was never asked for further details. 

The morning security shift clocked in a with it came Benji’s monitor college, whose name he didn’t remember. He decided to get lunch at the aquarium’s restaurant and take advantage of the fact that he was already in the building and didn’t have to work until 14:00. It was nice to be able to enjoy the views for more than ten minutes for once. 

He went around the whole place and ended up on a bench in front of Ethan’s aquarium. The merman in question was doing acrobatics for a group of delighted children. They eventually grew bored and left, leaving Benji alone in the room. Normally the mer exhibit was buzzing with activity, but today was unusually quiet. 

Ethan slowed down and floated towards the thick glass separating him from the dry world. He smiled and waved at Benji, who’d never thought mer were capable of looking that friendly and intelligent. They usually seemed creepy and uncanny. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that he had talked to this one instead of watching how the caretakers treated him. He waved back and rose from the bench. He walked all the way to the glass and with only a few millimeters left he asked: “Can you hear me?”

“Yes,” Ethan said. His voice was muffled but clear. “Did you tell anyone about last night?”

“No,” Benji said and looked around to make sure nobody was there, “I deleted the footage instead actually.”

Ethan looked at him in both shock and awe. “Why?”

“Dunno,” Benji said with a shrug, “it felt like the right thing to do, I guess.”

They were both silent for a while. Only standing there - or in Ethan’s case floating - looking at each other. Ethan’s eyes were bright and intelligent and a striking green matching the pattern on his tail. 

“Perhaps I didn’t think keeping someone like you in captivity is all that fair. I mean, you are basically a human person with a tail and you clearly don’t want to be here.”

“I can barely hear you,” Ethan said with his ears against the glass. Benji had lowered his voice just in case someone walked in on them.

“Oh. Nevermind it wasn’t important.”

Ethan’s eyes focused on something behind Benji and he turned around to see a family entering the room. He took this as his cue to leave and hurried out without catching Ethan’s endeared look.

He went back to the surveillance room and replaced the morning crew. Despite his best efforts he spent most if the time looking at Ethan via the cameras. 

His workday ended and he went past Ethan on the way out. The merman was waiting for him by the window to his tiny world. 

“Hi,” Benji greeted.

“Hello.”

“Are you gonna try escaping tonight?”

“No, I lost the cutter,” Ethan said not looking as disappointed as you would expect, “what was it you were saying earlier?”

“What?”

“You said something I couldn't hear and then you left before I could ask you about it.”

“Oh that. I don't remember what it was.”

“Probably wasn't important then.” Ethan smiled, showing off a set of pointy and surprisingly shiny teeth. It would have been scary if he was not so cute. _Don't think that, Benji!_

“I should get going before the alarm starts,” Benji said and moved to leave, “see you.”

***

The next day Benji went to work early and this time he used the staff entrance for once. He made a convoluted detour to go past Ethan. He had just been fed and emerged with a squid in his mouth. Tentacles were spilling out over his chin as he said: “Uue enyi!”

“What?”

He swallowed the whole squid in one go and repeated: “Hi, Benji!”

“Hi.” Benji returned Ethan’s smile and leaned over the fence. In turn Ethan grabbed onto the upper ledge of the fence and heaved himself halfway out of the water. 

“How’s the squid?” Benji asked.

“Fine. It’s fresh, but would have been better if it had been prepared a little more. Y’know, removing the beak and inner shell?”

“Sorry, I don’t cook a lot of seafood.”

“I’d have done it myself, but I couldn’t find anything to cut with,” Ethan said and his face lit up by Benji’s words, “you should try it, it’s really good!”

“Of course you’d say so! You were born to eat fish.”

“Good point, but I’ve tried human food as well and tell you what? Bring something cooked with garlic and I’ll bring you a true ocean delicacy, when I get out.”

Benji’s face fell. “So you still plan to escape?”

“Yes, of course. I can’t live the rest of my life in this tiny box! I’m not a simple minded herring, Benji.”

“I know I know!” Benji said defensively, “the aquarium would just be... rather boring without you.”

Ethan’s expression softened. The beginning of a smile was replaced by a frown.

“Someone’s coming,” he said and let go of the fence, “see you later, Benji.”

Just as his hair vanished beneath the surface someone appeared beside Benji. “Was he just hanging off the fence?” It was Carl and he looked somewhat panicked.

“No,” Benji said and walked away.

“I swear I saw it,” Carl said and grabbed Benji’s arm, “what were you doing here anyway? Don’t you have work? Were you talking to it?”

“No, I was just looking,” Benji said and freed himself from Carl’s grip, “my shift starts in ten minutes.” He left as quickly as he could without running. Hopefully he’d avoid any further questions.

He did. But he didn’t dare go back to the maintenance area that day. Instead he opted for his usual route through the visitors’ area. He entered the room with the merman exhibit and his smile faltered. Carl was standing in from of the window with his back to the door. On the other side of the glass was Ethan, looking curious. 

Benji silently backed away, but Ethan spotted him and looked up, prompting Carl to turn around.

“Benji!” 

“Yes?” Benji said, frozen in place.

“Get over here.”

He did as he was told. Technically Carl wasn’t his superior, but he could surely get him fired and then he would have to pay 26 dollars every time he wanted to see Ethan. That was not something he could afford without a job. 

“I refuse to believe you weren’t doing anything up there before. I heard voices. Tell me what’s going on.”

“Nothing’s going on, Carl, I just… I just think he’s neat.”

“Who were you talking to then?”

“Myself?”

“You talk to yourself in two different voices? Bullshit. You aren’t that stupid, Benji.”

“Well you got me there,” Benji said and decided to get the fuck out, “see you tomorrow.”

***

At home he sank deep down into the couch. _This is not gonna end well_. Carl was onto him. He should really just stay away from Ethan, but he was so damn endearing. Benji decided there was no going back. He went to his computer and bought a bolt cutter.

He didn’t immediately bring it to work. This needed planning. He timed the alarm, left early and went to Ethan. 

“I wanna help you escape,” Benji said as soon as Ethan was hanging onto the fence beside him. 

“You what?” Ethan said in disbelief.

“Like I said. I want to help you escape.”

“I thought you said you'd get bored here without me.”

“I will. But I think you're worth it,” Benji said softly. 

“Oh,” Ethan said and reached out to take Benji's hand with a wet scaly one, “thank you.”

“I wouldn't mind staying for you,” Ethan continued, “but if you really want to help me, then talk to the man hiding in the bathroom next Thursday.”

“Who's that?”

“My other human friend.”

“How does he know he has to do that? Does he come here often?”

“He visits me once a week.”

“Ah. What does he look like? Just so I don't start plotting your escape with some random lost tourist or worse another late night employee.”

“Large, dark skin, wears a hat often, looks like he knows what you're doing even if he doesn't,” Ethan said with a face indicating he had nothing but fond memories of the man. 

“Alright, I’ll be ready on Thursday.”


	2. The Escape

It was Thursday and Benji was nervous. He arrived at work early. The bolt cutter turned out to be too large to hide in his bag, so he counted on the mysterious Luther to have the necessary equipment to free Ethan. 

Carl had kept a close eye on him since catching him at Ethan's aquarium, so he didn’t dare stop by his friend. He went straight for his workstation. Throughout the day he couldn’t help but stare at Ethan's screen and probably missed a fair few people stealing things in the souvenir shop.

The clock slowly dragged towards closing time. Eventually people started trickling out and the service staff packed up and went home. The fishkeepers did their last round of checkups and shut off the aquarium lights. Carl was the one checking on Ethan and he spent an unusually long time at the fence. Ethan stuck his head out of the water, but did not seem to say or do anything else. Carl gestured for him to do something, but it didn’t work. Finally he gave up and left. To Benji's relief he didn’t go to him to complain before leaving the building. 

Benji waited fifteen minutes to be sure nobody was left before setting the alarm timer and leaving the room. He’d set it an hour from now. Should be plenty to sneak Ethan to the van waiting on the street opposite the parking lot.

The plan was to sneak Ethan out and drive him to the harbor where Luther's boat was waiting. From there they would sail a few miles out to sea with Ethan swimming on the side if he wasn’t at risk of being seen. The next day Benji would go back to work before the morning shift arrived and delete the surveillance footage. A foolproof plan.

Benji went to the maintenance area behind Ethan's aquarium and found a man waiting there. He fit the description of Luther pretty well.

“You must be Luther?”

The man nodded. “And you must be Benji.” It was not a question.

“Ethan told me about you.” 

Ethan was already hanging off the railing. 

“We've got about an hour to get out before the alarms are activated,” Benji said.

“Do you think you two could pull me up?” Ethan said between breaths stained from the effort of keeping himself above the water, “it would be faster than cutting the fence.”

“He's got a point. Benji, you take the left arm.”

“Let's get going then,” Benji said, sounding more enthusiastic than he felt. Then carefully climbed onto the fence. It was hard to sit on because of the angle. They etched grabbed an arm and heaved. Ethan was heavier than he looked, and even with Luther's considerably greater strength it took several attempts to pull him all the way out of the water and halfway over the fence, from which point he could crawl the rest of the way by himself. 

Benji let himself sink to the floor trying to catch his breath and wipe the sweat from his brow. 

“Come on, Benj, we don't have much time!” Ethan hurried on. 

_He's never called me that before,_ Benji mused as he got up. He couldn’t help but smile at the pet name.

“What are you smiling about?” Luther asked.

“Just that we're almost there.”

“Sure.”

They carried Ethan between them all the way to the maintenance exit, where they sat him down and Benji peaked out the door to see if the coast was clear. It was. The parking lot was empty and Luther's van was directly in front of them albeit about fifty or so meters away. 

They switched carrying method to avoid Ethan's tail getting damaged by the asphalt. Benji got the head end and Luther slung the tail over his shoulder, and like that they ran as fast as the awkward position would allow them. 

As the clock hit 23:00 and the alarms activated they closed the door to the van, started the engine and set course for the harbour. 

***

They turned a corner and got in view of the harbour. Every single boat was covered in colorful lights and partying people. They could hear music all the way to the top of the hill they were driving down. People were dancing, drinking and grilling hot dogs on the docks. It was merriment all around for everyone, but the trio in the van. 

“I can hear music, what’s going on?” Ethan asked from the back.

“There’s a major harbour party. You won’t be able to swim right away. We’ll be able to sneak on board my boat if we’re careful,” Luther said.

“Can’t I just swim near the bottom?”

“Have you _seen_ what the bottom of a harbour is like? Absolutely not, you’ll get sick.”

“Alright fine, but my scales are drying up.”

They parked as close to Luther's boat as possible, which was about twenty meters. Luther went to prepare the boat for setting sail. Benji went to the back of the van. People were having dinner on the next boat over and a couple of drunks were walking towards him. He waited until they had passed, politely saying cheers when they raised their bottles at him, before opening the door. 

The coast was almost clear. He couldn’t risk the diners seeing Ethan, so he covered him in some spare sailcloth. 

“I don't think I can lift you by myself,” Benji said, scratching the back of his head. 

“I'll hold onto you. Over your shoulder.”

They tried and it worked until Benji had to step onto the boat. He nearly fell and would have if Ethan had not grabbed the railing and pulled them both on deck. Luther appeared beside them and helped drag Ethan to the lower deck behind the wheel. With that Luther started the engine and began the tedious process of navigating the harbour full of festively lit boats. 

“Get Ethan downstairs, right now!” Luther said with more urgency than he otherwise expressed. They were passing very close buy a large yacht hosting a party. Benji and Ethan scrambled to get below deck and they ended up at the bottom of the stairs with Ethan on top of Benji just as Luther slammed the door shut. They could hear several sets of extra steps from above. Ethan was listening intently and did not pay attention to Benji, whose face was heating up below him. 

Finally Ethan was satisfied with the sounds and certain enough they wouldn’t be discovered to relax. He looked down at Benji.

“Oh no, I'm so sorry!” He exclaimed and tried to move, but there was no room for it. His tail was pinning Benji's legs to the floor. 

“Did I hurt you?” he asked, worried.

“No! No.. It's… I'm fine,” Benji said. 

“We can try and move so we're both on the side?” Ethan suggested. Benji nodded in agreement and soon they were lying on their sides, still very close together. 

“I think you can get up now,” Ethan said amused, “if you want to.”

“To be honest with you, I don't think I want to,” Benji said and quickly regretted it, “I’m very tired.”

“Alright. But can you tell me where to get water for my scales?”

“Oh my god, why didn't you just say that!” Benji said and got up in a matter of seconds. He went to the sink and got a bowl of water. When he turned back he saw Ethan smiling at him. 

“What are you smiling at?”

“You.”

“Why?” Benji asked as he poured the water over Ethan. 

“You're cute.”

Benji blushed. “Uh. Thanks,” Benji said and took a deep breath, “you too.”

Ethan laughed, “help me over there, will you?”

It was in the general living area, where the table in the middle had been flipped to the side. It had it enough room for Ethan to sit and lean on the built in couch. With room for one more actually.

“Sit with me?” Ethan said and patted the floor beside him. Benji took a cushion and sat down. 

They rested there for a while, in silence, listening to the noise from above. Hoping no one wanted to use the bathroom or look for beer. The lights were off, so Benji couldn’t tell how long it took, but eventually the footsteps left and the dim multicolored lights from outside died down and disappeared. They’d left the harbour without getting seen and they both sighed in relief as if they had been holding their breaths. 

They jumped as the silence was broken by Luther opening the door. 

“We're going to The Reef. It's about an hour away, maybe longer if the wind changes. I don't wanna use the engine unless I have to,” he said and was about to leave again, when he did a double take, “I hope I didn't interrupt a Moment.”

He left chuckling to himself.

“What's The Reef?” Benji asked.

“It's the place me and Luther usually hang out. It's dangerous to sail by if you're not experienced, so we never got disturbed. There’s a small rock island, just large enough for a couple of seals to lie on and it's sheltered from the wind by a larger rock island a few minutes away.”

“Sounds nice.”

“It is,” Ethan said and turned his head, “but you don't sound like you wanna see it.”

“I do! It's just that… I'm gonna miss you.”

“You can visit me.”

“I can't swim very well. Let alone sail a boat.”

“I'm sure Luther will let you join him on his,” Ethan said and took Benji's hand, “I don't want this to be the last time I see you.”

“Me neither,” Benji said and yawned. He was getting very tired. He’d been up early and it was past midnight by now, and he was not used to being this active either. He closed his eyes for a few seconds to rest his eyes. He did’t notice his head dropping to Ethan's shoulder nor Ethan wrapping his arms around him. 

***

Benji woke up a few hours later to Ethan's voice in his ear. 

“Wake up, Benji, we're here.”

“When did I fall asleep?” he said and stretched. It felt like it had been a long time ago, but it was still dark outside, “How long did I sleep?”

“About three and a half hours,” Luther said. He was sitting at the kitchen counter with a cup of coffee and a sandwich. 

“What time is it?”

“Almost 3 am.”

“Better get going then, if need to be back, before they open,” Ethan said.

Luther finished his sandwich, while Benji downed the biggest cup of coffee he could find. 

They each grabbed an end of Ethan and began the complicated task of getting him up and out of the narrow staircase and door. 

“I can crawl, you know,” Ethan said when they were halfway up. 

“Alright,” Luther said and immediately let go of his tail. Ethan slid down several steps taking Benji, who was unprepared, with him. He didn’t fall, but he did end up in quite an awkward position with his head way too close to Ethan's. 

He got back up as fast as possible. “Could you warn me next time?!”

“Yeah, sorry,” Luther said, but did not sound like he meant it.

Ethan laughed. “Are you alright, Benji?”

“Yeah, are you?”

“I’m fine, just let me crawl the rest of the way by myself.”

Benji let go and exited the cabin shortly followed by Ethan, who inelegantly made his way across the deck and to the boat’s railing. 

“I guess this is goodbye, Ethan,” Benji said.

“No, it’s a _see you_ ,” Ethan said and opened his arms, “come here.”

Ethan pulled him into a tight hug and - to Benji’s amazement - a swift kiss on the lips. 

“I’ll be here, when you come back,” he said and let himself fall into the water. 

***

Benji and Luther arrived back at the aquarium half an hour before opening time. They found the place crawling with police. Benji tried to enter via the staff entrance, but immediately found himself face to face with a security guard. 

“What is your business here?” 

“I work here. What's going on?”

“A rare specimen was stolen last night. All employees are being questions, go to the main hall,” the guard said and let Benji pass.

Benji took advantage of everyone being in the main hall and went to the surveillance room unseen, hoping nobody was or had been there already. 

The room was empty and he quickly got to work. He deleted all the footage from the time he clocked out to the next morning. He felt a tab on his shoulder. 

“What are you doing?”

“Uh,” Benji said stupidly and turned around to see Carl, “working?”

Carl was silent for a few seconds. “You don't work ‘til the afternoon,” he said and crossed his arms, “and everyone are supposed to be the hall. I haven't seen you there yet.”

“Why aren't you there then?”

“Don't try to distract me, I've already been questioned. And you know what? I think they'll get a lot of answers out of you. Come on,” Carl said and pulled Benji out his chair out to the main hall. He didn’t let go of his arm the whole way, as if he was afraid Benji would run away.

He dragged him to a police investigator, who questioned him about his whereabouts the night before.

“So you went home at around 22 after setting the alarm. And you didn't see anything suspicious on your way out?”

“No sir, all was as usual.”

“But that can't be it!” Carl interjected, “he's been acting suspiciously for days! And I found him in the surveillance room, when he was supposed to have gone here.”

“Suspicious how?” The investigator asked and clicked his pen.

“Well, he's been hanging around the mer exhibit more than he used to. After hours even, and at one point I found him in the maintenance area early in the morning, when he wasn't even supposed to be in yet.”

“Go on.”

“If I may explain myself,” Benji said and got an approving nod from the investigator, “I'm just very fascinated by the creature. It's beautiful you know? I don't understand why that would make me want it to disappear.”

“To keep it for yourself I reckon,” Carl said.

“Do I look like someone, who has the means to house an animal like that?”

“To release it then.”

“It'd swim away and I'd never see it again. _Think,_ Carl,” Benji said and tabbed his forehead.

“ _I_ think you're free to go, Mr?”

“Dunn. Benjamin Dunn.”

“Go home and rest Mr. Dunn.”

“But what about the surveillance?!” Carl exclaimed. 

“We'll get to that later.”

Benji didn’t hear the rest of the argument between Carl and the poor investigator. He left as fast as he could and headed for Luther's van.

“I think I'll write my letter of resignation, when I get home,” he said as he closed the door to the passenger's seat.

“And that won't look suspicious?” Luther asked. 

“Nah, they know I hate it there, and now that my favorite exhibition is empty, I have no reason to stay.”

“I guess that makes sense. What are you gonna do next then?”

Benji wondered that for a moment. He hadn’t thought too much about it. “I don't know. Maybe I'll get the same job somewhere else.”

“Let me know if you don't find anything. I might know a place.”


	3. Seaweed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This one doesn't have as much meat on it as I'd like, but what can you do

It seemed to take forever get back to Ethan. What if he wasn’t there, when they got back? Now that he was free he could go wherever he wanted. Why would he stay around for Benji? His mind wandered back to the kiss. Perhaps he was worth it in spite of the vast ocean just waiting for Ethan to explore. 

Luther took down the sail and anchored closer to the tiny rock island than anyone else would have dared. The boat was at the edge of the underwater reef, allowing them to simply step out into knee deep water and walk to the island. Ethan was nowhere to be seen and Benji's heart began to sink. 

“Don't worry he'll show up eventually,” Luther said reassuringly with a hand on his shoulder. 

And he was right. A few minutes later Ethan appeared from a deep hole in the reef with an octopus in his mouth. He crawled onto the island with one hand, while holding a shell in the other. Benji waved at him and walked towards him slower than he wanted to. The Reef was full of sharp stones and angry sea critters and he did not want to fuck up his thin slippers (or his feet). 

“Ethan! I thought you'd left me,” Benji said when he was within hearing range.

“Never!” Ethan yelled when he’d spit out the octopus, “you’re far too charming.”

He didn’t know how to reply and his face elected to smile and blush instead. He sat down on a dry rock beside Ethan and looked at him clean out the octopus with the shell. 

“It tastes much better when they're cleaned out, wanna try?” he said and handed him a tentacle.

“Uuuh… actually I don't think-”

“Come on, try it.” Ethan grinned, radiating mischief. Benji looked at him doubtfully and slowly put the tentacle in his mouth. It tasted like saltwater, he swallowed it quickly and coughed. 

“Please never make me do that again!”

Ethan burst out laughing. “I won't. I just wanted to see your face, when you tasted it,” he said with tears in his eyes, “here let me fix it.”

Before Benji could ask what he meant by fixing, Ethan leaned in a kissed him. A few seconds of surprise later Benji kissed back. He wrapped his arms around the merman and soon they were lying on the hard rocks without caring for the bruises they would surely have the next day.

“Hey, you two!” Luther said and they immediately stopped what they were doing and sat up, “I think I'll just leave you be and go take a nap on the boat. Benji here are some diving goggles and swimming shoes.” He threw the mentioned items at Benji and left for the boat with a chuckle. 

“Wanna go for a dive, Benj?” Ethan asked. 

“Sure, but I've never dived before.”

“I'll hold your hand the whole time,” Ethan said and took his hand as proof. 

“Alright.” Benji put on the shoes and goggles. He was already wearing a long sleeved wetsuit and he was sure the extra equipment made him look stupid. 

“You're cute with goggles on. Ready?” 

“As I'll ever be.”

Ethan went into the water with experienced elegance and held up his hand for Benji to take. 

It took for longer for Benji to get in. He didn’t dare jump, out of fear for hitting the reef. Instead he sat down on the reef and slowly crawled to the deep spot Ethan was in. When he was there he took Ethan's hand. 

“Take a deep breath,” he said and pulled him under. 

It took a few tries for Benji so feel comfortable underwater. It helped that Ethan was there, though. 

“We have to swim through a few tunnels, but don't worry they aren't very long and I'll make sure you get through them safely.”

“Why?”

“To get to a cave under the island. It has air in it, and a dry place for you. Even some light from a small hole in the ceiling. I used to live there often.”

“Oh, alright then, lead the way.”

***

They got to the cave after a both fascinating and terrifying swim through the reef tunnels. It was dim and cozy. The stone was smooth and covered in dry seaweed. 

“How long has this been here?” Benji asked and took off the goggles. 

“Don’t know. It doesn’t matter, it’s long enough that there aren’t any bugs in it,” Ethan said with a shrug, “now wait here, I’m gonna get you something.”

He dived and left Benji alone in the cave. Looking around Benji noticed that more effort had been put into the cave than he first thought. The stone floor and walls were smooth and soft. It had small carved shelves full of shells, interesting looking stones and a variety of tools made from both natural and human made materials. He spotted bottles of water in the corner and heard a splash behind him.

“I’m back,” Ethan said and crawled out of the water, “look.” He held out his hands showing a… thing. With his limited knowledge of ocean life it was impossible for Benji to tell if it was an animal, a plant or some type of algae. 

“What is it?”

“It’s a Lobster Lily,” Ethan said and looked at Benji with bright sparkling eyes, “it’s the ocean delicacy I promised you.”

“Oooh. Right.” Benji looked at it. It didnt look particularly appetizing. 

“Here, taste!”

Benji hesitated, but took the ‘plant’… and took a bite. And then Ethan shoved the rest of it into his mouth. It tasted remarkably good. Left a sort of tingly sensation on the tongue. Felt funny to chew. He felt butterflies flutter inside him.

“Ethan,” Benji said, feeling lightheaded, “I feel strange. Are you sure this is safe for humans to eat.”

“Yeah it is, but I didn’t know it would have this strong an effect. I’m so sorry, Benji!” Ethan was high key panicking.

“No no, don’t worry, it’s a nice strange feeling.” Benji looked at Ethan and it was as if he was shining. Every scale was a little gem reflecting the light from the small hole in the ceiling. 

“You’re beautiful, Ethan.”

“So are you,” Ethan, smiling and already looking relaxed. He opened his arms to Benji, who crashed onto him, laughing and content. Benji brought his hands to Ethan’s face and pulled him into a long passionate kiss. 

Eventually Benji pulled away and let himself rest on Ethan’s tail. He felt dizzy in the best way possible. Lying here, being held in Ethan’s arms, the electrifying feeling of Ethan playing with his hair, it was like heaven.

“I think I love you, Ethan.”

“I think I love you too, Benji,” Ethan said and leaned down to kiss him again. 


End file.
